Co-operating with Marek's

[WeeRadish]

Hmm I may have another decision to make in the near future. My remaining birds are slowly becoming skin and bone. At this rate I'm seriously considering culling the four of them, cleaning the whole coop and leaving it to the elements for a couple of years before starting over.

My reasons for considering this are two-fold. Firstly my close friend has a larger flock than me; I do not want to indefinitely put her flock at risk every time I come over to visit. Secondly, I live in a pretty wet climate, and it's my understanding that the virus struggles to survive for those insanely long years in this type of weather. Can anyone confirm this? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the virus dies more readily in zones that thaw and freeze frequently. Of course that might be anecdotal evidence, and I can't even remember where I read it.

 

[microchick]

I can only speak from my experience in Missouri. But. From all I've read states that Marek's can remain in dirt and on property for 7 years and is virtually impossible to get rid of. One article I read said that it is so prevalent in the US that if ever flock was tested they would show that they had been exposed to Marek's Disease. The big key is resistance because you can't in reality get away from it.

Only you know when the time is right when it comes to dealing with birds that are suffering. I usually say that the bird will tell me when it is time to let its spirit fly free.

And no, you cannot 100% remove the virus from your property. I have had people ask me about that and I tell them what I read. If you have the ability to remove the top foot of soil from every spot on your property, sanitize every building, every tree, every item on your property, then yes, you can remove it from your land. But it's not feasibly possible to do all of that so no, while you can scrub your coop with antivirals and lessen the load, there is no way to remove it from your soil, not 100%.

Frankly, my best advice is to carry hand sanitizer and use it liberally along with shoe covers like doctors and nurses use to cover their shoes in surgery or isolation. and wear them when you are around your friend's birds.

As for wet weather. I've read that the virus does not like cold weather either. We have our share here. Not as much as you probably have but I've been known to clean out a small coop and leave it open to air over winter before using it again in the spring. Have I noticed anything different? I don't use the coop my original flock was in for brooding or fledging out young birds. I do keep bachelors in it and those boys are disgustingly healthy....so far. Like I said. I know it's still here and if the 'usual' strain of MD that I'm used to dealing with isn't here I bet real money there is another one around.

 

[WeeRadish]

Thank you, I'm just worried by the possibility that it's a particularly virulent strain. Of course, I have no way of knowing this, but it's concerns me that all five of my birds got it. For some reason I don't feel exactly right giving the virus hosts to perpetuate itself off of. I'm not jumping to conclusions but it just sucks lol

 

[WeeRadish]

And based on my currents feelings about this being a leaky vaccine (I do go back and forth on it), I like the option of not vaccinating so I at least know whether or not it's a strain that can be overcome naturally. But on the other hand that's a lot of heartache, and also knowingly putting chicks at risk. It seems like there's no easy answer

 

[microchick]

Consider getting genetically resistant birds. I went with Egyptian Fayoumis. I currently have one rooster, 4 hens and 5 crossbred roosters/cockerels. I figure that if I cross them with my resistant Amish barnyards they will hopefully increase resistance in my flock.

As for vaccinating, I will only bring in vaccinated birds onto our property. So far the oldest of those birds is 3 years of age. Since the majority of the birds I've lost averaged out at around 1-1.5 years of age, having vaccinated birds and to me it's pretty clear that at least in my situation, dealing with vaccinated birds is the way to go.